Housing / Squatting

via imc-uk, 24 August 2010: "More than 20 families living in chalets, mobile-homes and caravans at Hovefields Drive, nearby the largest Romani Gypsy and Irish Traveller community in the United Kingdom, Dale Farm, Essex County, are facing imminent forced eviction. The families received a 28-day notice issued by Basildon District Council to vacate their pitches and leave by 31 August 2010 or otherwise face eviction by the bailiff Company Constant and Co..." more

from email, 4 July 2010: "INTERSQUAT – Festival in Berlin from 10th until 19th of September 2010. Let’s come together to provide a base for discussions, introducing different thoughts, initiating meetings, linking each other, developing new perspectives and creating a self-determined and autonomous free space from 10th until 19th of September 2010 at the Berlin INTERSQUAT Festival..." more

from ainfos, 26 May 2010: "We should squat more houses and barricade them. We should show them what making squatting illegal really means. No more nice phonecalls to the Wijkagent so he can check the meters. No more waiting for a year for a building to be empty, no more agreements with the owners if they have no good plans with the buildings, no more nicely waiting to be evicted. No more fluffyness..." more

from newint, 25 March 2010: "Recently I listened to a radio programme on the growth of not just mega cities (those of over 10 million people) but meta cities with 20 million or more people – some crossing national borders – as a kind of corridor of mass humanity. One thing that the discussion failed to mention was the increase in forced removals of the poor from informal urban settlements to the outskirts of the mega/meta cities. The Shackdweller movement Abahlali baseMondolo, based in Durban, South Africa, has been under siege for the past four years and last September the Kennedy Road settlement came under attack from outsiders..." more

from Black Cat, updated 26 March 2010: "Come down and help save Bath's best (and only) occupied community social centre. Enjoyed sticking it to the man at Jesters last week? The Black Cat Social Centre on Lower Bristol Road in Bath is due for eviction this Friday 26th March. This eviction will be resisted. In addition from 9.48am there will be a street demo with free acoustic music provided by the fabulous Madame Hatter with special guests The Bailiffs (due onstage at 10am)..." more

from AbM, 18 March 2010: "It is our usual practice when we send delegates to other people's meetings that we get together as a movement and discuss our collective view so that our delegates can take a mandate that is based on our 'home-made' politics. In this case there will be chances for our comrades to connect with other movements from around the world as well, so it is all the more important to be clear on our own home-cooked politics of Abahlalism – our 'living politics'..." more

from email, 9 March 2010: "On Monday, 8th March, about 50 people from Rozbrat squat Collective made a demonstration in front of the gate of Poznan International Fair Center, where a congress of local councils from all over Poland was taking place. Shouting slogans “City is not a company. Rozbrat stays!”, the anarchists blockaded the gate. Many cars with the officials were forced to turn back..." more

from email, 9 March 2010: "A weekend of workshops, discussions and socialising for everyone with an interest in radical autonomous social centres. How can a new generation of social centres learn from the successes and failures of established ones? What are the ways in which we can best face up to the challenges.." more

from housingstruggles, 5 March 2010: Over 120 people and 40 organizations participated in the Third Encounter for Dignity and Against Gentrification hosted by the Movement for Justice in el Barrio this past Sunday in East Harlem, New York... “The objective of this third encuentro was to connect our struggle. Our struggle doesn’t have boundaries...” more

from email, 28 February 2010: "The 'A-library' ('A-raamatukogu') which is an anarchist/alternative infoshop in Tartu, Estonia needs your help. The winter of 2009/2010 has been exceptionally cold and our heating expenses have been way bigger than expected. Since we don't receive funding from any organization, foundation or institution, and depend on individual donations from the local scene to pay for utilities and rent, for now our monetary resources have been exhausted. We are eager to keep A-raamatukogu functioning but for that we need to pay our bills..." more

from email, 21 February 2010: "It's a school that's free. Free of charge, free from teachers, free for any adult to come and learn. WHERE: 195 Mare St E8 3QE. Classes of all sorts will be held throughout each day on a wide variety of skills and subjects, ranging from practical stuff like welding and cooking to other useful things like languages, philosophy, making your own radio show, do it yourself health care. All classes will be led by people want to share whatever skills and knowledge they have with others..." more

from anarkisterna, 19 February 2010: "Demonstration on 20th March in Poznan! Support our protest! The auction of the grounds where Poznan’s Rozbrat squat is situated will take place on 26th March at 10 a.m. Since January 2008, when the bailiff came to the squat for the first time, we have managed to keep the squat, through different legal actions and protests. If nobody buys the ground on 26th March, the next auction will take place within the next 2-3 years. That is why this is a critical moment for us..." more

from imc-london, 9 February 2010: "On Wednesday 3rd Feb at 9.20 am, High Court Bailiffs came round the Non Commercial House Free Shop, armed presumably with a restitution warrant, and evicted the place and its occupiers. Owners and Bailiffs seemed quite happy to prevent us from running a FreeShop (oooooh, scary, giving out shit for free!) and making some more people homeless because they want to keep their building empty for another couple of years..." more

from newint, 5 November 2009: "Ahead of next year’s FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Cape Town has begun an operation to clear the streets of the homeless, the visibly poor and informal street vendors. In early September, the city’s law enforcement officers and a private security company swooped on roadside street vendors, confiscating flags, rugby sweaters and mobile phone chargers..." more

from email, updated 23 May 2010: InfoUsurpa is a regular weekly listing of events, gigs, benefits and radical meetings happening in social centres, free spaces in London and beyond... more